Pscyh Chpt 13

the characteristic thoughts, emotional responses and behaviors that are relatively stable in an individual over time and across circumstances

a characteristic; a dispositional tendency to act in a certain way over time and across circumstances
-building blocks of personality

the idea that personality can be described using 5 factors:
-openness to experience
-extraversion
-conscientiousness
-agreeableness
-neuroticism

One of the Big 5
-imaginative vs. down to earth
-likes variety vs. likes routine
-independent vs. conforming

One of the Big 5
-social vs. retiring
-fun-loving vs. sober
-affectionate vs. reserved

One of the Big 5
-soft-hearted vs. ruthless
-trusting vs. suspicious
-helpful vs. uncooperative

One of the Big 5
-organized vs. disorganized
-careful vs. careless
-self-disciplined vs. weak-willed

One of the Big 5
-worried vs. calm
-insecure vs. secure
-self-pitying vs. self-satisfying

Produced the first theory of Personality- balance of 4 humours
-correspond to personality types
-Theory of Temperamentum

biologically based tendencies to feel or act in certain ways
-broader than traits
-highly heritable
-measured in infancy

Activity level- amount of energy
emotionality- intensity of emotional reactions
socialbility- tendency to affiliate with people

have low arousablity--> seek stimulation

have high arousability--> avoid external stimulation

believed differences in between introversion and extroversion due to arousability

believed that differences between introverts and extroverts due to behavioral inhibition system and behavioral activation system

the brain system involved in the pursuit of incentives or rewards

the brain system that is sensitive to punishment and therefore inhibits behavior that might lead to danger or pain

one of the most heritable traits
-tendency to seek out new and exciting things

the bond with first caretaker-->sets stage for implicit theories/explanations about other relationships

thoerized that personality will be determined by how child passes through psychosexual stages
-always regress to problem stages

unconscious forces, such as wishes and motives influence behavior

associated with pleasure seeking-->satisfies life instinct

the developmental stages that correspond to the pursuit of satisfaction of libidinal urges

psychosexual stage in which pleasure sought through the motuth
-0-18 months
-find pleasure through being fed

psychosexual stage in which toilet training is important
-gives a sense of power
-ages 2-3

psychosexual stage in which pleasure comes from the genitals
ages 3-6
features oedipus/electra complex

fixation on opposite sex parent
same sex parent is rival
eventually identify with the rival

the component of personality that is completely submerged in the unconscious and operates according to the pleasure principle
-greedy, childlike, wants

component of personality that tries to satisfy the wishes of the id while being responsive to the dictates of the superego
-reality principle, negotiator, knows better than impulses

the component of personality- internalization of societal and parental standards of conduct
-moral, socail standards, like your conscience

unconscious mental strategies the mind uses to protect itself from conflict and distress

defense mechanism:
keeps distracting thoughts or feelings buried in subconscious
-can lead to Freudian slips

defense mechanism:
create a plausible but false excuse to justify behavior

defense mechanism:
attributing one's own state to another

defense mechanism:
diversion of state to another substitute target

defense mechanism:
behaving in the opposite fashion in an exagherated way

defense mechanism:
redirecting motive toward more desirable social ends

extent to which we believe influential forces lie within or outside the individual

belifes about ability and competence
-high level=persistance on hard tasks
-can be domain specific

theories of personality that emphasize personal growth and belief systems; propose people seek personal growth to fulfill their human potential
-free will and growth, not as concerned about early development

process by which people strive to fulfill their potential for personal growth through greater-self understanding

receiving unqualified acceptance from significant others

when being accepted by significant others is contingent upon one's behavior
-bad for self-actualization and healthy personality

personality tests that examine unconscious processes by having people interpret ambiguous stimuli
-Rorschach tests
-TAT (Thematic Appreciation Test)
-can be influenced by previous experiences as much as personality

person-centered approaches to studying personality that focus on individual lives and how various characteristics are integrated into unique perons
-different for all people

focus on how people vary across common traits
ex: Big 5
-use same metric to compare people

errors in reporting
possibility that some poeple better judges than others

error in reporting
-some people more easily judged than others

error in reporting
-some traits easier to judge/predict

error in reporting
-certain situations make judging easier

theory that situations determine behavior more than traits
-strong vs. week situations
-similar across cultures

theory that behavior is jointly determined by underlying dispositions and situations

believedt that personality learned responses to patterns of reinforcement
-cognition also part

people's understanding of their circumstances
-personal theories of how the world works

believed Behavior was a function of expectancies for reinforcement, values ascribed to certain reinforcers

belief that we bring about our own rewards

belief that results/rewards are not in our control--> controlled by outside forces

theories that emphasize how personal beliefs, expectancies and interpretaions of social situations shape behavior and personality

people's responses are influenced by how they perceive a situation, their affective (emotional) response, their skills in dealing with challenges, and their anticipation of the outcomes of their behavior
-theorized by Mischel

expect to fail--> enter situations with dread
-still perform just as well as optimists
-different motivational strategies

people set goals, evaluate their progress, and adjust behavior

relatively direct assesments of personality, usually based on information gathered through self-report questionaires or observer ratings
-does not try to uncover hidden/secret info